In case of recording an audio signal such as music by means of a tape recorder, it is sometimes required that a recording level of the audio signal is slowly raised or lowered at the begining or ending portion of the music by a fade-in or fade-out operation. In a prior art, since the fade-in or fade-out operation is made by manually controlling a knob of a volume, it is very difficult of fade in or out the sound in a smooth manner. This means that no ideal fade-in or fade-out effect can be obtained.